dec06

							 December 2006
                                 LoCo Motion… Loudoun County
                                                                           Economic Development Progress
                                Route 7 Retail Study Recommends High-End Future
                                The Route 7 Corridor of eastern Loudoun will
                                provide the county with opportunities for fu-
                                ture high-end retail developments, according
                                to the recently released Route 7 Retail Market
                                Analysis. The study was initiated by the
                                Board of Supervisors, who tasked the Depart-
                                ment of Economic Development (DED) to
                                help the county gain a more thorough under-
                                standing of the retail market in the Route 7
                                Corridor. Working with AKRF Environ-
                                mental, Management, and Engineering Con-
                                sultants of Hanover, Maryland, as well as
  Department’s Prospect         members of County Administration and the
  Activity—December:            Departments of Planning and Management & According to the analysis, the county should
  • Responded to 194 general    Financial Services, DED issued the final retail look to examples of lifestyle centers, such as
    information requests        analysis to the Board in December.                 Mashpee Commons in Cape Cod, Massa-
  • Distributed 6 maps and 37   An initial retail inventory in the report          chusetts, for future retail development in the
    business guides             showed that the Corridor, which was defined Corridor. Mashpee’s master plan includes a
                                as the Loudoun County area east of Lees-           total of six interrelated mixed-use neighbor-
  • Conducted 80 business
    appointments                burg, south of the Potomac River, and north hoods with housing, offices, high-end stores,
  • Worked with 1 new and 54    of the Dulles Greenway, currently holds more civic buildings and open space in a tradi-
                                                                                   tional New England form -- controlled by a
    on-going prospects          than 9.6 million square feet of existing retail
                                                                                   strict site and architectural design code.
  • Received 108,675 hits on
                                space. Potential build-out of all existing and
    www.loudounfarms.org,       approved projects totals up to 14 million square feet. Of this space, over 60 percent
    with 4,974 user sessions.   is currently comprised of neighborhood and community centers offering standard
                                personal service and convenience goods, which pull most of their customers from
                                areas within three miles.
                                The remainder of the Corridor’s retail space is focused on two larger-style compo-
                                nents. AKRF documented the study area’s four “regional centers” — large shopping
                                areas anchored by one or more department stores which draw customers from at
                                least 10 miles away — an example of which is the retail cluster around Route 7 and
                                Cascades Parkway in Sterling. The other component — super regional centers — are
                                dominated by stores offering comparison shopping goods typically in an indoor envi-
Inside this issue:              ronment anchored by three department stores. Loudoun examples are seen at Dulles
Business Announcements 2        Town Center, Dulles Town Crossing, and Leesburg Corner Premium Outlets.
In the News                 3   A key conclusion of the analysis was that while retail absorption has been strong in
                                Loudoun due to rapid population growth and high income levels, the mix of future
Department &                4   Corridor retail development needs to be modified. Neighborhood and community
Commission News                 center-style areas are nearing a saturation point. At the same time, there is a lack of
                                more upscale shopping experiences offered by the large “lifestyle/town center” devel-
Construction Activity       4
                                opments seen elsewhere which target the region’s most affluent customers. These
                                centers are usually between 150,000 and 500,000 square feet, and are designed to
                                emulate “Old World” streetscapes through architectural design elements.
                                AKRF therefore concludes that the Corridor has “reached a threshold” where it is
                                                                                                 (See Retail Study, Continued on page 2)
Page 2                                                                                           ♦   LoCo Motion… Loudoun County


                                        Business Announcements
                                        ♦   Inova Loudoun Hospital                      tions in those areas, the facilities
                                            (www.ILH.com) recently broke                are both expected to open later this
                                            ground on a 78,000 square foot ex-          year. The Dulles facility will pro-
                                            pansion project at its main Lans-           vide urgent care, physician services,
                                            downe facility. The expansion in-           and radiology procedures, and the
                                            cludes a four-story addition with 16        Purcellville location will provide
                                            medical/surgical beds, 12 intensive         primary and specialty physician
                                            care unit beds, and expanded phar-          services, physical therapy and reha-
                                            macy and conference room space.             bilitation services.
                                            The completed project also in-              “We believe community medicine
                                            cludes the expansion of ILH’s labo-         is all about responsiveness, and we
                                            ratory and cafeteria facilities, al-        are pleased to be able to deliver on
                                            lowing for the creation of new pro-         our promise of improved access to
                                            grams such as a room service pilot          care for Loudoun County,” said
                                            project and the use of robotics in          Randy Kelley, Inova Senior Vice
                                            the pharmacy to meet increasing             President and Inova Loudoun CEO.
                                            demand for hospital testing ser-
                                            vices.                                  ♦   Middleburg Christmas Tree Farm
                                                                                        (www.middleburgxmastrees.com)
                                            The expansion, expected to be
                                                                                        was host for the fourth annual visit
                                            complete by late 2007, is the latest
                                                                                        from representatives of the Russian
                                            in a series of improvements made to
An embassy representative at-                                                           Embassy in Washington. The
                                            Loudoun Hospital since it merged
taches guide ropes to their se-                                                         group was in town to choose and
                                            with Inova in 2005. The hospital
lected 30-foot tree while Middle-                                                       cut a tree for the Russian Orthodox
                                            also renovated its Donald Sabella
burg Tree Farm Owner Frans Kok                                                          celebration of Christmas on Janu-
serves up a selection of the                Emergency Department and
                                                                                        ary 7, 2007. Middleburg Tree Farm
Russians’ favored refreshments.             opened its new Pediatric Emer-
                                                                                        offers Norway Spruce, Colorado
                                            gency Department in May 2006,
                                                                                        Blue Spruce, and Douglas Fir trees
                                            and opened the Schaufeld Family
                                                                                        for $60, as well as special “embassy
                                            Heart Center in January. ILH is
                                                                                        trees” which are 16 feet and taller
                                            also currently working toward the
                                                                                        for $250. As in past years, Frans
                                            openings of the Inova Medical Cen-
                                                                                        Kok, Middleburg Tree Farm owner,
                                            ters in both Dulles and Purcellville.
                                                                                        helped make the tree cutting a fes-
                                            Designed to meet the healthcare
                                                                                        tive event, complete with a buffet,
                                            services needs of growing popula-
(Retail Study, continued from page 1)
“appropriate for the county to be more selective and proactive in guiding retail development.” Among its other
guidelines for the Route 7 Corridor:
        ♦ The county should protect areas with non-retail commercial development potential to maintain a
            diverse economic baseline.
        ♦ Zoning requirements should be enacted to encourage the development of newer retail development
            concepts. This could include provisions for public amenities, mixed development uses, pedestrian
            access, and the encouragement of structured parking over large parking lots.
        ♦ The county should require a detailed market study of demand for high-end uses, including hotels,
            sit-down restaurants, and upscale large department stores.
The complete report and a related presentation made to the Board of Supervisors in December is available
online at http://inetdocs.loudoun.gov/bos/docs/specialmeetings_/120706committee_/index.htm.
December 2006                                                                            Page 3


In the News
♦   The Loudoun Convention & Visitors Association is currently accepting
    nominations for its 2006 Tourism Awards. The awards program showcases
    the work, service, creativity and contributions of individuals and organiza-
    tions as related to tourism promotion. Categories include Employee of the
    Year, Volunteer of the Year, Tourism Event of the Year, and Tourism Promo-
    tion/Campaign of the Year. The highest honor is also presented with the
    Judy Patterson Tourism Award, honoring individuals and groups who have
    contributed a legacy to the tourism industry. Guidelines for nominations are
    listed at www.visitloudoun.org, and all entries are due by January 19, 2007.
♦   If judged by trends noted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA),                           The Loudoun
    Loudoun’s history of successful farmers markets is not just a local phe-                          Valleys Home-
    nomenon. The USDA announced in December that the number of farmers                                grown Markets
    markets increased nationally more than 7 percent between 2005 and 2006.                           Association runs
    The new numbers are based on an update of the National Farmers Market                             seven farmers
                                                                                                      markets in the
    Directory by USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), and the pre-
                                                                                                      county from May
    liminary results of the 2006 USDA National Farmers Market Survey. "These                          to October, in
    statistics show farmers markets continue to be an increasing source of in-                        addition to a new
    come for our nation's farmers," said AMS Administrator Lloyd Day. "Their                          winter market in
    popularity with consumers is growing, and buyers enjoy fresh, locally grown                       Leesburg.
    products."
♦   The Northern Virginia Life Sciences Communities (NVLSC) group met
    December 4 and discussed the future direction of the group, preliminary re-
    search plans, current and future marketing opportunities, and potential
    ways to grow the region’s life sciences community, including the use of in-
    centives. Participants included economic development representatives from
    Fairfax, Prince William, and Loudoun Counties as well as top executives
    from George Mason University. The NVLSC will meet again in February.
♦   “Artificial Intelligence: Digital Smarts, Thinking Machines, and Implica-
    tions for Society” was the topic for discussion at the Loudoun Science &
    Technology Cabinet meeting December 8. The featured speakers included
    James L. Olds, the Director and Krasnow University Professor of Computa-
    tional Neuroscience at the Krasnow Institute for Advanced Study at George
    Mason University; and John Zett, President & CEO of Alatheia US Limited,
    a manufacturer of prosthetic technologies for amputees throughout the            James L. Olds, one of the featured
    world. In addition, DED’s Larry Rosenstrauch partnered with Angle Tech-          December speakers for the Lou-
    nology CEO Gary P. Evans to lead an interactive discussion on the region’s       doun Science and Technology
                                                                                     Cabinet, is the director of the
    science and technology current assets, greatest competitors, and potential
                                                                                     Krasnow Institute. The 15-year old
    for future growth.                                                               organization is “situated strategi-
♦   According to a recent analysis of the 2005 American Community Survey             cally at the intersection of neuro-
    data from the U.S. Census, the Washington region currently ranks first in        biology, cognitive psychology and
    the nation among large metro areas for the attraction and retention of college   computer science” and conducts
    graduates. Completed by the Greater Washington Initiative, the analysis          research funded by agencies such
    showed that 45.92% of the region’s residents have bachelors degrees or           as the National Institutes of
                                                                                     Heath, the National Science Foun-
    higher. This places the D.C. area well ahead of second-ranked Atlanta, where
                                                                                     dation, and the Department of
    34.32% of residents have degrees. The D.C. area ranked third in the compari-     Defense.
    son in 2000.
                                       Department and Commission News
                                        ♦   Loudoun County has recently hired Jack Brown as Econo-
                                            mist in the Department of Management and Financial Ser-
Loudoun County                              vices. Brown will be part of a team that examines economic,
Department of Economic Development          demographic, revenue, and fiscal issues for the county. He
                                            comes to the county with a background in state and county
                                            research in Ohio as well as economic analysis for the energy
1 Harrison Street, SE, MSC #63              industry.
Leesburg, Virginia 20175
Phone: 703-777-0426                     ♦   The Loudoun County Rural Economic Development Coun-
Toll Free: 1-800-loudoun                    cil has set its membership for 2007. New members this year
Fax: 703-771-5363                           include Celebrations Hospitality Co-Founder Douglas Arm-
                                            strong; Fabbioli Cellars Owner Doug Fabbioli; Loudoun
                                            County Farm Bureau President Chris Hatch; Loudoun County
                                            Economic Development Commission Representative Tamar
VISIT US ON THE WEB AT:
                                            Datan Johnston; agricultural economist and marketer John
BIZ.LOUDOUN.GOV
                                            Montel; and Endless Summer Harvest Marketing Partner
                                            Mary Ellen Taylor.
                                            Returning members for 2007 are Supervisor Lori Waters; Ava
                                            Abramowitz; Nicki Bazaco; Floyd Blethen; Jeffrey S. Browning;
                                            Marian Czarnecki; Jeremy Harvey; Robert Kline; Benjamin
                                            Leigh; Donna Rogers; Melanie Voght; and Kate Zurschmeide .
                                            REDC officers for 2007 will be elected at their next meeting on
                                            January 8.


Construction Activity
 In November 2006, Loudoun County permit-
 ted a total of 336,520 square feet (SF) of non-
 residential construction:                         1,600,000                       2005 Total
                                                                                   2006 Y-T-D
 ♦   Office — 0 SF                                 1,400,000

                                                   1,200,000
 ♦   Flex/Industrial — 98,654 SF
                                                   1,000,000
 ♦   Retail — 14,504 SF
                                                    800,000
 ♦   Other — 223,362 SF
                                                    600,000
 ♦   Taxable — 127,066 SF
                                                    400,000

 ♦   Route 28 — 96,123 SF                           200,000

 The cumulative amount of nonresidential                  0
                                                                   Office     Flex/Industrial   Retail      Other
 square footage permitted from January to No-
 vember of this year is 3,932,657, an 8 percent                Nonresidential Construction — Square Feet Permitted
 increase over the same 11-month period last                           2005 Total and 2006 Year-to-Date
 year.